Brora, Pennard, St Enodoc, Carnoustie Burnside, Welshpool and Perranporth! Why isn't James Braid acknowledged as one of the great archies? Give the guy some good land and he produced great stuff in spades.
I went back to Perranporth (again) recently and was still flabbergasted at the outrageous nature of the design. I now see where RTJ got his ideas for The Cashen, only Braid didn't have to push dirt about. The conditions were near perfect (3-4 more days of sun and no rain will see Perranporth at its absolute best) with a normal southwesterly wind. Last year the course was absolutely burned out with the wind out of the east - making for a crazy day of golf. Perranporth makes a ton of sense with a normal wind, put all those short par 4s downwind (east wind) and all hell can break loose. An old friend who was injured walked the course with me and barely uttered a word about the design the whole way round. His eyes told me all that I needed to know.
Perranporth is the first course at which I ever bought a course guide. Don't lament too much over me being raked, the total cost for a guide and weekend game was £28.50. Notice the hole yardages and pars, then forget them. Why? The course is wild and one needs to play by his wits.
#1
#1 last year - I drove the green! Also note how much extra space the photo depicts, it is needed in these conditions!
Approach.
Onto the crazy 2nd, but in truth no more crazy than about half dozen other holes. On the second shot the direct line to the green is left of the markers, but how much carry is there? For that matter, how far does one hit a lay-up?
Looking back toward the teeish.
If one is fortunate he will emerge from the bumps with a ball in play. The green swings madly left.
You are not hallucinating. This is the 3rd. It looks a doddle to drive to the upper flats....
...but all concenetration should be on trying to leave this for an approach...its the best most can hope for.
We haven't quite stopped climbing. Where is the 4th and how in the hell is one meant to hit the green? We have gone from all out smash mouth golf to the ultimate in pussy footing. This ball ache one-shotter is probably best played as a ball ache two-shotter.
With a hairy dune right and steep drop off to more hair left, there is precious little room to execute. This view is from online wih the ladies tee.
The green from the 5th tee shows fairway back to the ladies tee left. The men's tee is somewhere below the hill!
You want views?
Now then, time to consult the guide. Hhhmm, par 5 oer the top. This is big golf! Photo from behind the green.
The short 6th. Don't be short, don't be long, don't be left. Be right. Photo from behind the green.
Photo from right of the green.
Guide consultation #2, the 7th is a ball donation hole. The bell tells the story. This photo is looking back to the tee.
Behind the green.
The 8th is the first of four drivable par 4s. Playing in the same direction as the first, the green is very difficult to hold.
9 plays back to the house - sort of. We strolled down the 8th, now we must clamber up the 9th. The fairway curiously steers to the right - away from the prime angle of approach. A good drive leaves an heroic approach.
Looking back to the tee.
Much more sedate, the blind 10th runs past the house and offers a opportunity to ask the many questions one must surely have. First of which would be to enquire as to if it is possible for a Pimms to be delivered to the 11th tee.
Many of the greens are fairly straight-forward with some slope, but a few greens have interesting shaping shy of the surfaces. Below is a look at the 10th green.
What followed was another long par 5. After hitting my drive I did wait for the Pimms, but the service in England is not renown for its promptness. Feeling disappointed and thirsty, I trudged onward and as it turned out upward. The green is on a high shelf making it difficult to hold.
Taken from the 12th tee.
Much like North Wales' O.L and L.O, the 12 & 13th at Perranporth are a marvel to behold. Totalling less than 600 yards and 8 in par, its a job just to read the guide let alone decide on a strategy.
#13
Deja vu - the rear of the green is a mirror image to the front of the green. That can only mean one thing - low on the ends and high in the middle! Beau Desert anyone?
Definitive proof of Perranporth's provenance.
Yet another plateau green. The 14th from the back of the green.
At 15 we get a wide open fairway, though it doesn't appear so from the tee. Essentially, the 15th and 10th (to the left) are combined fairways. The hole isn't great, but its a welcome relief at a perfect time in the back nine. The lone par 3 on the back nine caps off a very good set. Playing downhill and in firm conditions, one must figure a landing spot and hope for the best.
Taken from the back tee on #17. The 6th green is the main subject. To the left is the third fairway and behind the 6th green is the 3rd green. One gets a better sense of how steeply uphill the long par 3 4th is! The fairway feeding down from the right is #5.
#17 features a blind drive, but a sensible one with a decent landing zone. The green runs left to right and is very good. The 18th is the final short par 4 and its a cracker. The plateau green makes it difficult to really go for the green in one, but in any case one wants to leave an approach as much into the wind as possible.
Knowing the obligatory caravan site is just off the right side of the fairway, many folks must end up pin-highish left.
Okay, much like the hilltop courses I really enjoy, Perranporth is just too wild to be given serious consideration for greatness. What it lacks in that department is made up for in spades with shot after shot excitement. I mentioned Ballybunion's Cashen course, the two are quite similar, but Perranporth is much better and a more sensible walk. Somehow, these classic archies were able to see holes and offer a walk that while may be strenuous, is not crazy. I am quite surprised that there aren't more par 3s on the course. The extreme terrain seems to be calling for them, but I guess it is not very satisfactory to have string of short holes. The Ladies card offers five to the Men's three. The count is the same for the par 5s. Indeed, the Ladies card looks very interesting and some of the tees are quite tempting to have a go.
My first visit to Perranporth was in 1997 (not long before I moved to England) on a word of mouth visit recommended by a mate who played it on a whim while on holiday. He described Perranporth as a clifftop course, typical English understatement. Of course, Steel's book missed Perranporth! Rather oddly, so did Pennink's. Anyway, I was just as stunned this time as any previous visits. Much time was spent in a daze wandering around like a lost child while his ice cream melts. Perranporth is a tough course to remember the details, but that certainly isn't the case for its spirit. I could play Perranporth tomorrow and have a wonderful sense of adventure - its that magical. 2014
Ciao